For decades the satirical comedy show “South Park” has amused its viewers with often-crude jokes about celebrities, politics or religion. Whether it’s taking on people like Kanye West or Caitlyn Jenner, “South Park” is never afraid to cross the line with its comedy.
The show features four fourth graders who find themselves in dramatic real-life situations every episode. The situations can range from the boys almost having their imaginations blown up by terrorists to the boys murdering Jesus Christ so he can resurrect and save Easter.
Whenever the show targets the political arena the results are often the satirical truth. That means that although it is a comedy format, the message of the episode can be applied in reality.
This concept of the satirical truth is found in “South Park”'s recent season. In the second episode of season 19, the boys were placed in the situation of a Donald Trump-like candidate who wanted to get rid of the Canadians in his country. The episode is entitled “Where My Country Gone?”
The episode features a frustrated Mr. Garrison who is angry with the illegal immigrants in his town. He rebels against the political correctness of the town, and tells the Canadians to get out of his country!
Mr. Garrison realizes that the people of South Park begin to support his blunt hatred against the Canadians, and starts his campaign to the White House.
Now if you have not caught on already, this episode is parading the rise in support of Donald Trump. Like Trump, Mr. Garrison gains tremendous support from people who want the immigrants out of their country. When addressing the people of South Park who want their country back, Mr. Garrison says, “Seems like everyone around here is afraid to speak the truth. Well I’m throwing my hat in and saying I’ll figure this out.”
His next part in the speech correctly depicts Trump. “Now, I might not understand politics or immigration policies or the law or basic ideological concepts. But damn it, I understand there’s a bunch of Canadians here, and I’m gonna do something about it!” Following his speech, the people of South Park cheer and hold campaign signs that support Mr. Garrison’s harsh words.
Now lets take a look into our reality. Trump gained tremendous support by saying these harsh things against undocumented immigrants; however, these immigrants are of Hispanic orientation.
“South Park” has clearly depicted the rise of Trump through this episode. Not only do they show his origin, but they offer the view a glimpse into what it would be like with Trump as president. Later in the episode, the viewers find out that the Canadian president is actually Donald Trump. Although the show does not directly mention his name, the hair on the character is that of Trump.
The writers of “South Park” were geniuses by showing the before and after of a Trump presidency. Mr. Garrison resembles Trump at the start of his campaign, and the Canadian Trump resembles Trump as president.
See in the episode, the reason why the Canadians were pouring into the U.S. was because of their current president, Canadian Trump. The idea that he was so terrible as president that all of the Canadians left Canada is a clear insight into the satirical truth.
A Canadian citizen who now lived in South Park perfectly summarizes the satirical truth of Trump. “There were several candidates during the Canadian election,” the Canadian man said. “One of them was this brash asshole who just spoke his mind. He really didn’t offer any solutions. He just said outrageous things. We thought it was funny. Nobody really thought he’d ever be president. It was a joke. But we just let the joke go on for too long. He kept gaining momentum, and by the time we were all ready to say, ‘OK lets get serious now, who should really be president?’ By then he was already sworn into office. We weren’t paying attention. We weren’t paying attention!”
This testimony by the Canadian man who had witnessed the rise in power of Trump is a powerful satirical truth. Right now in reality, Trump is gaining momentum. Coming up is Super Tuesday, and he looks to be the frontrunner.
As a nation, we should listen to the words of “South Park”. Although it is in comedy form, the underlying message of a Trump presidency scares me. There are people in the U.S. who are voting for Trump because they find his outrageous sayings funny. That should scare you. We need to pick a realistic candidate to become president before it is too late.
